Autopsy is a procedure done by a doctor, called a pathologist, on a dead body also known as a cadaver. An autopsy includes looking at the exterior of a body as well as the organs inside. Autopsies are done for two reasons; to find the manner of death or if there was an illness or causative agent that was a factor in the death. An autopsy is either a hospital autopsy or a coronial autopsy.
Autopsy table
A hospital autopsy must have permission of next-of-kin to be performed. A hospital autopsy is performed to investigate the exact cause of illness and death, which can be useful if there were underlying genetic conditions. A coronial autopsy does not need the permission of next-of-kin and is performed by a coroner if there the cause of death is unknown or unnatural, for example suicide.
Organs in jars
Some organs and tissue samples are kept for a period of time after the autopsy is performed for further study. Complete autopsies involve making incisions on the body to remove the organs for dissection and further study. Usually autopsies include other branches of science like microbiology, forensic identification and forensic chemistry.
One method of examination during autopsy is to find the original positioning of the body. The position of the body needs analysis to determine if the body was moved from a previous location. This is important as, if the body was moved then the primary site of death is elsewhere. One way to determine position of body is using hypostasis, which is to use the way the blood pools inside the body.
Hypostasis on body that was lying on back
Hypostasis is also known as lividity and livor mortis. Hypostasis appears within an hour of death and is customarily completed between 6-12 hours after death. The pooling of the blood is dependant on the posture of the body after death. If the body is in direct contact with a surface then hypostasis is absent in that immediate area, this is called ‘areas of contact flattening.’
Body with vibice marks
Any compression by clothing, materials or objects will interfere with pooling patterns; the marks left are called vibices. Another way of determining if the body was moved is if the body had any bleeding wounds but there are no blood pools under the body or not enough blood in the immediate area which gives clear indication that the site in which the body was found is not the site of the incident.
A hospital autopsy must have permission of next-of-kin to be performed. A hospital autopsy is performed to investigate the exact cause of illness and death, which can be useful if there were underlying genetic conditions. A coronial autopsy does not need the permission of next-of-kin and is performed by a coroner if there the cause of death is unknown or unnatural, for example suicide.
Some organs and tissue samples are kept for a period of time after the autopsy is performed for further study. Complete autopsies involve making incisions on the body to remove the organs for dissection and further study. Usually autopsies include other branches of science like microbiology, forensic identification and forensic chemistry.
One method of examination during autopsy is to find the original positioning of the body. The position of the body needs analysis to determine if the body was moved from a previous location. This is important as, if the body was moved then the primary site of death is elsewhere. One way to determine position of body is using hypostasis, which is to use the way the blood pools inside the body.
Any compression by clothing, materials or objects will interfere with pooling patterns; the marks left are called vibices. Another way of determining if the body was moved is if the body had any bleeding wounds but there are no blood pools under the body or not enough blood in the immediate area which gives clear indication that the site in which the body was found is not the site of the incident.
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